Zack Hunt of The American Jesus blog posted an excellent discussion of this issue today. One of the most consistent objections to my blog has been along the lines of “How dare you criticize a Christian leader/pastor/etc? You are being divisive and sinning.” Zack is no stranger to that, being a thoughtful critic of certain elements of contemporary American Christianity. He is a student of Christian History at the Yale Divinity School, so he isn’t just another yay-who with a blog. He knows his stuff. (Don’t worry – he write in a very approachable, non-stuffy way. We all continue to hold our breaths that divinity school doesn’t beat the approachableness of his style out of him.)
Here’s a snippet of his post. (It’s like he’s read my email!)
If you’re a Christian with a blog, or just an opinion in general, and you have the audacity to critique other Christians, particularly prominent Christian leaders, you will inevitably find yourself under attack by fellow Christians accusing you of “stirring up disunity” in the church. The thought being that if “the world” sees the church display any hint of discord, disagreement, or imperfection, that would be somehow mean the total collapse of the church’s ability to do evangelism or worse, the invalidation of the gospel.
This is, of course, nonsense. If it were true, the church, with its 2,000 years of flawed history, would have collapsed long, long ago. And yet these attacks continue. Why? Because there is a powerful force behind them: fear.
Of course, the church should strive for unity, but what these Chicken Littles of the faith are bemoaning is not the absence of unity, but conformity; conformity to their particular brand of the faith. Moreover, they’re mourning the prospect that their favorite Christian guru or church may not be as perfect as they thought, or needed them to be.
You really need to read the entire post, especially if you’ve ever wondered it’s wrong to think critically about and/or disagree with something a leader has said or done. Or if someone has ever questioned you about doing so. It’s so well-thought-out. Zack explains where this desire for perfection comes from (Genesis 2) and why perpetuating a lie of perfection destroys true Christian faith and makes a mockery of the cross. I especially love his conclusion:
We are a broken people and that’s ok.
In the face of a world that demands perfection, this brokenness of the Body of Christ is nothing short of scandalous.
To reject that brokenness for the sake of public perception is to reject the cross and the God who was crucified upon it.
Standing ovation to Zack, and also, THANK YOU.
I share his thoughts on this. And yes, I have been ostracized over speaking out about abusive clergy. Yet the Bereans are praised for double checking the scriptures for themselves. However, some leaders fear you’ll do as they did and find errors in their theology. It just all boils down to fear and due to their pride they refuse to correct their theology when shown to be wrong. They fear losing tithing members and reputation even though we are not to be worried about our reputations. Even the apostle Paul spoke out against Peter for preaching legalism!
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Thank you for your thoughtful post! It’s our duty to examine ourselves and each other but to leave judgement to God. As someone who works in an international relief and development organization, I see the tragic impact of injustice on a global scale. Abusive clergy are everywhere. Thank you for having the courage to speak out.
Great Post. Totally agree!!!
i think the allergy to critique is an ancillary of fundamentalist idolatry of authority and, strangely, many recovering fundamentalists who, in an effort to champion grace, will also perceive critique as personal attack/”un-grace”.
our church is watching these scot mcknight videos during lent, and i kinda love how comfortable our priest is saying, “i don’t really agree with scot on this…” and yet he chose this curriculum. he saw value in it without feeling the need to rubber stamp it 100% with his approval (or “protect” us from another way of looking at things). he knows that his is not the only or best perspective and that disagreement can be healthy.
christian leaders should be servant leaders walking alongside us. lording power over others and pretending exemption from accountability (or sin!) is not the way of jesus or functional christian community.
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Wherever I teach/preach I always use Acts 17:11 as the basis for receiving me.
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
If it is good enough for Paul to be checked daily on what he was preaching, it is certainly appropriate for me as a pastor and national church leader to be under the same scrutiny.
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